Ajit Andhare, Chief Operating Officer, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, said in a statement: “I am very proud to announce that Paramount Pictures will lead the international release of our epic film ‘Padmavati’. We are breaking new ground with ‘Padmavati’, its marketing and release strategy. With Paramount coming on board, we will take the film to a whole new level globally.”

Megan Colligan, spokesperson of Paramount Pictures, said: “‘Padmavati’ has all the makings of a hit film and we are excited to bring Sanjay’s incredible vision to audiences across the international marketplace.”

Parikh Worldwide Media is the largest Indian-American publishing group in the United States. The group publishes five periodicals – “News India Times,” a national weekly newspaper; “Desi Talk in New York,” a weekly newspaper serving the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region; and “Desi Talk in Chicago,” a weekly newspaper serving the Greater Chicago area and the Midwestern states; and “The Indian American,” a national online quarterly feature magazine, and the Gujarat Times, a Gujarati language weekly. The combined circulation and readership of these publications make the media group the most influential in the ethnic Indian market.